Humanizing HIV: A Day With HIV Focuses on What's Important -- People

All too often, the voices, faces, and needs of people living with HIV/AIDS are silenced or sidelined in favor of those with bigger pockets. This was all-too often the case at the recently past International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., as the faces and voices of people -- especially women -- living with HIV/AIDS were suspiciously absent from panels, sessions, and discussions. As the world's most profitable AIDS conference -- which was also heavily sponsored by big pharmaceutical companies -- this silencing is brazen, but unfortunately not all that surprising.

But thanks to Positively Aware, people living with HIV/AIDS will truly the chance to be seen, heard, and to saturate the internet and social media. On Friday, September 21st, Positively Aware is hosting "A Day With HIV," where people all across the world, both HIV positive and negative, are asked to share an image of themselves to humanize what it means to be living with HIV. According to Positively Aware, the goal of A Day With HIV is to "remove the stigma of HIV and to advance an international community of care through this collective photographic portrait."

This will be the initiative's third year, and is a refreshing campaign that emphasizes what many of us marched for in the We Can End AIDS march: people over profits.

Perusing last year's photos, which you can see here, viewers are given snapshots into other people's lives, and create a sense of community and overwhelmingly prove that we are not alone in our struggles or our triumphs.

To learn more about how to participate, visit the A Day With HIV's website.

This article was provided by Housing Works. It is a part of the publication Housing Works AIDS Issues Update. Visit Housing Works' website to find out more about their activities, publications and services.

(Please note: Your name and comment will be public, and may even show up in Internet search results. Be careful when providing personal information! Beforeadding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.)

The Body is a service of Remedy Health Media, LLC, 750 3rd Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The Body and its logos are trademarks of Remedy Health Media, LLC, and its subsidiaries, which owns the copyright of The Body's homepage, topic pages, page designs and HTML code. General Disclaimer: The Body is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through The Body should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, consult your health care provider.